Samsung Galaxy S8 has already earned the badge of the “drop-dead gorgeous Android smartphone” in the West and now it has just arrived in India.

After using the 5.2-inch Galaxy S7 edge earlier, we were already familiar with marketing terms like “Dual curved display”, “edge-screen” and “glass-metal finish”. But the S8 still manages to differential with it’s almost bezel-less design and the virtual home/navigation button.

Samsung has perfected the flagship S7 edge in the new Galaxy S8. After using the device for a day, here are our initial impressions. Full review to follow soon.

The Samsung Galaxy S8+ (left) and Galaxy S8.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 sports a 5.8-inch Quad HD+ Super AMOLED curved display. It offers a 1440×2960 pixel resolution with 570 PPI. The resolution can be changed to Quad HD+(WQHD+) Full HD+ as required. The 18:9 aspect ratio makes the phone slim and a bit longish. The overall display quality is one of the best.

Despite housing a bigger 5.8-inch display, the Galaxy S8 manages to be actually smaller than the 5.2-inch Galaxy S7 edge. The 18:9 aspect ratio in the Galaxy S8 has changed the way smartphones look and feel. The build quality is impressive. The display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5 and the metal frame adds to the strength.

To give an edge-to-edge feel, Samsung has introduced “crop-to-fit” feature which helps any content (videos or apps/games) to occupy the entire screen, thus eliminating the ugly black bands along the curved portion.

The virtual home and navigation buttons within the bottom part of the screen makes it a class apart. The Home button is pressure sensitive and offers the regular Google Assistant when pressed hard.

While maintaining the slimness of the Galaxy S8, Samsung has managed to provide a flat back without any protrusion near the camera area.

Coming to the hardware specifications, the Galaxy S8 is powered by an octa-core Exynos 8895 processor with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage which can be expanded up to 256GB. While it is too early to comment on the performance, overall the device feels smooth to operate. Stay tuned for the full review for more details on the performance.

The Galaxy S8 sports 12-megapixel rear camera with ‘Dual Pixel’ technology. The camera features include optical image stabilisation and f/1.7 aperture. In the front, there is an 8-megapixel camera with autofocus. The image quality is similar to what the S7 edge had offered. More details in the full review.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 runs Android 7.0 Nougat. The interface is neat and borrows heavily from the S7 edge with Edge Panels and other tweaks.

With Quick Charge support, the 3,000mAh battery charges very quickly. You can expect to get one day battery life with Wi-Fi and 4G VoLTE.

buyers will get a pair of good quality AKG earphones along with a micro-USB to Type-C adapter, Type-C to USB adapter, Fast Charging adapter and USB Type-C data/charging cable.

The Samsung GalaxyS and S8+ comes with Face recognition, Iris scanner, Fingerprint scanner along with regular PIN or pattern lock. This sounds too good. However, the location of the fingerprint scanner will make it a bit difficult to get used to. Also, the iris scanner is not fully-reliable always.

Surprisingly, it works well with glasses and also in pitch black darkness. However, under bright light or sunlight, it is a pain to use it. It’s slow to respond and can be frustrating when you need to unlock the device quickly.

Also, the fingerprint scanner is not the quickest in business. It takes noticeable time for the sensor to process the fingerprint.

The much talked-about Bixby takes the back seat in the Samsung Galaxy S8. In day-to-day usage, what Bixby is offering at present is of very little use. For Bixby to be more useful, we need to wait for voice to power it. As of now, Google Assistant is a far better than what Bixy has to offer.

It’s an IP68 water resistant smartphone. So, you can dip the phone in a bucket of water. However, if you do so, the speakers takes time to get dry and sound normal. But the phone will be alive.

The Galaxy S8 is a different smartphone altogether. With the premium feel, the Galaxy S8 can easily make regular Android smartphones look outdated. The overall experience of the smartphone is unmatched. The Galaxy S8 begins a new era of next generation flagship Android smartphones. However, there is still a lot left for Samsung to fix, especially Bixby.